Shoot for the Sky, Where the Stars Live (A Nalu Fanfic)
by theflowermaid
Summary: Natsu Dragneel was the every guy. Lucy Heartfilia craved love and adventure. So, what happens when the two bump into each other at a Christmas parade? Chaos ensues as Lucy is captured by the evil Zeref, dragging Natsu along in the process. The both of them realize that escape is necessary in order to figure out why Zeref wants Lucy. But will this blossom into something more?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Natsu_

They were in a mountain. Well, it was really a volcano, which burned all who weren't Dragon Slayers. Fire was burning everywhere but Natsu himself couldn't use any of it if he didn't want to die on the spot. Then again, considering Lucy's fate, he might as well risk it. He pulled Lucy's head to his lap and fruitlessly tried again to wake her up.

"...Lucy...wake up..._please_..."

Natsu wrenched his tear stained face from Lucy's unconscious body and glanced at the stars above flying towards them. A fire dragon was in the sky, battling a magic that even he couldn't put a stop to. If Lucy was to die, then why the hell was he still here?

"It's too late for her, Dragneel," a voice said darkly. "She...no...her _parents_ chose this fate for her."

Clenching his fists, he controlled his tears and looked up at the voice in front of him.

"Her parents wanted to protect her..." He stood up and glared at the person in front of him with a murderous rage, laying Lucy gently from harm's way. "What the hell did you do, Zeref? You jackass..."

"I didn't do anything," Zeref replied nonchalantly. "She chose this."

_"You made her choose this!"_

"How can anyone resist true freedom in this world, hm?"

Gritting his teeth, he started thinking about various ways to murder Zeref. But without Atlas Flame's fire and Gray's ice make magic, he couldn't hope to save Lucy. In addition, the Celestial Spirits will die as well without their former owner. _There had to be a way..._

* * *

**_A/N: Hello! Hope you like where I'm taking this! I said this earlier but this is my first Nalu specific fanfic. Feedback would be immensely helpful. Thanks!_**


	2. Ch 1: Peace vs Adventure

**Chapter 1: Peace vs. Adventure**

_A month ago_

_Lucy's POV_

It was a quiet day in Magnolia. The library was even quieter than usual, as a certain blonde girl often heard someone moving books off the bookshelves. But unfortunately for Lucy Heartfilia, quiet was not the answer she was looking for at the moment. Then suddenly, she felt something move behind her. Putting her book down on the table, she looked around to find no one beside her. That's when suddenly, someone said: "_Hime_, your carriage is here."

A pettie pink haired girl in a maid outfit appeared beside Lucy as she yelped in shock.

"Virgo! Don't scare me like that, please!"

"Sorry, _Hime_. But we could feel your troubled senses."

Lucy moaned. "I still don't get how and why you guys break through the gates."

"You're our master, _Hime_," Virgo replied. "We're only concerned about you."

"Oh well. I really appreciate your concerns but I have enough things on my mind! First off, I don't wanna get married. I'm only seventeen! Please, tell me how I can change my uncle's mind!"

"What the king ordered is what the king ordered, I'm afraid," Virgo confirmed with a wave of regret. "This is to unify the kingdoms of Magnolia and Hioku in order to stop the war."

"There's always a peace treaty!" Lucy yelled as she got into the carriage. "With pen and paper. Why do I have to be a part of it!?"

"I overheard that the prince is looking forward to it."

"Oh, joy," Lucy grumbled sarcastically under her breath. "Of course Takashi is looking forward to it...Looking forward to get on my bloody nerves, that it."

But truth be told, she didn't know what Takashi would be or look like. It's been nearly ten years since she last saw him and when she did, he had a passion for playing pranks on her. Who knew? Maybe he would be a little more mature or he may be still a jackass. Lucy was hoping her first assumption would be correct, but her hopes weren't high.

The carriage pulled to a stop as Virgo vanished, going back to the Celestial world. Layla Heartfilia was waiting for Lucy at the steps of the castle, smiling widely.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" asked Lucy. "Aren't you supposed in town today?"

"I finished up a little early," replied Layla as she gave her daugther a hug. "I was going to come by the library, but..."

Lucy scrutinized her mother for a solid minute, knowing something was up. Layla never finished up this early bceause she liked spending time in town.

"Mom, what's going on?"

Layla gave her a funny look. "Why would you think that something is going on?"

"Just tell me. Is this about Takashi?"

Layla sighed. "Alright. I'm guilty. But first, don't you think that you should be enjoying life a tiny bit instead of just sitting around reading books? Not that there's anything wrong with that," she added hastily after Lucy's murderous expression.

Lucy crossed her arms. "I would if Dad let me out once in a while. Now what is it about Takashi that you want to talk about?"

"Um..." Layla's eyes took a quick glance at the castle and back to Lucy, sweatdropping as she did this twice in a row. Lucy sighed knowingly and raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. He's here, isn't he?"

"His twin sister Levy is here as well, sweetie. This will be good for you, I promise." Layla kissed Lucy's cheek and walked up the stairs.

_Oh well, _Lucy thought to herself. _If Levy's here, then __maybe__ it __won't__ be that bad._ Lucy ran up the stairs and to the study where Layla said they were. When she opened the french door, she saw Levy McGarden standing gracefully at the window. She turned around at the sound to see Lucy standing at the doorway, whose expression got more ecstatic by the minute. "Levy, is that you?"

"Lu-chan!" Levy exclaimed. "I'm so happy to see you!"

Lucy pulled her into a bear hug. "Oh, it's been ten years since I last saw you! How's it going for you?"

"Ugh, life has been hectic since the war started," groaned Levy. To think that if our fathers weren't friends, our uncles would have continued this war!"

"Yeah, and they end this war at the cost of my free will," muttered Lucy. "Oh well, at least I get you as my sister-in-law."

Levy looked concerned. "Yeah...I heard Takashi talking about that. I'm really sorry, Lu-chan..."

Lucy quickly dissmised her apology with a wave of her hand. "It's not your fault, Levy. How has your brother been doing over the years?"

"Arrogant as ever," said Levy, rolling her eyes. "But he does have the makings of a king and he's not as annoying as he was when we were kids..."

_Oh thank god, _Lucy thought in relief. So Takashi actually matured during this war. Seeing as she was about to get married to him, this was some good news. "So...what now?"

"Hm..." Levy scrunched up her eyebrows in thought. "How about a little bit of horseback riding? We can catch up with a little picnic."

Lucy smiled widely. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

After getting into the gear for horseback riding, Lucy and Levy rode out to the hills, where the plant life was alive during the winter season. The scenery was absolutely marvelous, especially with the winter tulips in full bloom. The pine trees were covered beautifully with icicles, and the hills were as white as a snow rabbit. In fact, when Lucy was young, there was a rabbit family that lived in the part of the forest where they were riding. As the years went by, she often wondered why she never saw them anymore.

"I forgot how beautiful Magnoila was during the winter," Levy sighed in nostalgia and hour later. The two of them were muching on some cake that Lucy packed for the ride.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, considering that Dad doesn't let me out as much anymore, I forgotten it as well."

"So what are you going to wear to the ball two days from now?"

"I-I don't know if I'm going, Levy...I was actually thinking about staying in the study all night."

"Lu-chan..." Levy sighed. She grabbed Lucy's hand and continued in a reluctant voice: "You have to come. From what I heard...you don't have a choice."

Lucy froze. _What did she mean by the fact __I __don't__ have a say in this?!_

"Well first off," Levy answered to Lucy's astonished expression, "you haven't seen Takashi in years. And second, there's something you need to know immediately."

"Eh? What's that?"

"I don't know," Levy shrugged. "All I know is that your life is in danger. Takashi knows the real reason..."

The gears in Lucy's mind were running rapidly, thinking of a reason. "...Does this have to do with me getting married to him?"

"Like I said, Lu-chan, I honestly don't know whether this has to do with the marriage or not. Just be careful and at least come to the ball for my sake. And also," Levy added, "You two are just getting engaged for the time being."

"Ah?" The mind gears stopped and crashed in Lucy's brain. "En-en-gagement?"

"You're only seventeen, Lu-chan. Did anyone honestly scare your into thinking that your wedding would be in three weeks?"

"Um. Yeah! Namely my dad..." Lucy stared at Levy with utter disbelief. Then she sighed in obvious relief and hugged Levy happily like a seven year old, the two of them falling back on the grass.. "Thank you, Levy-chan!"

"Alright, alright..." Levy laughed as Lucy kept saying thank you delight for the next two minutes. "Gezz, I had Takashi doing the same thing when he found out that I managed to convince our uncle to postpone the damn wedding until you were at least twenty four."

Lucy got off Levy and sat right back up as the trumpets roared in the distance, playing from what Lucy remembers as the Hioku anthem.

"I think that's Takashi," said Levy as they both stood up. "Come on, we better get going."

"I guess so." They packed up everything, got onto their horses and rode back to the castle. As Lucy's stallion went down the dirt path, what Levy said about her being in danger stuck out in her mind like a sore thumb. The minute her mum gave her all of the Celestial keys that she had, she never really explored much as her dad was intent on keeping her safe and sound in Magnolia.

_H__ow could I be in danger if I never really left a place I was desperate to get out of? _Lucy thought as she neared the palace grounds. Seeing as she wasn't going to get any answers from her parents, Lucy only had a couple of days to corner Takashi and get some infomation. But even then...she highly doubted that luck would be on her side.

* * *

**_A/N: I really hope you guys liked this chapter! It's shorter than what I would usually write but hey, I haven't written short chapters in a while. (Hint: Natsu's POV is coming up next. XD) _**

**_See until then! :D_**


	3. Ch 2: A Dragon's Clue

**Chapter 2: A Dragon's Clue**

_Natsu's POV_

The snow that covered the town of Magnolia was beautiful as ever. The pine trees had icicles hanging from the branches. The Christmas decorations looked absolutely badass. It would have been enjoyable...if a certain Dragon Slayer with salmon colored hair wasn't covered with snowballs at the moment from head to toe, no thanks to Gray Fullbuster.

"Gray, you black-haired jackass!" Natsu Dragneel screamed, melting the snow off his body. He then made another dozen snowballs with Happy and threw them back and ducked behind their shabby snow wall. "Did we get him, Happy?"

"Let's check," Happy replied. The blue Exceed peeked over the wall. Looking around suspiciously, he said a minute later, "He's...not there..."

"What?!" Natsu stood up, getting more and more anxious. It wasn't like Gray to abandon a snowball fight. That's when suddenly...

"You thought I would go without a fight?" someone hollered behind him. Whirling around, he saw Gray shirtless as usual, ten feet away from him with a tower of snowballs beside him. _"Ice Make: Cannon!"_

A bright blue glow came from his hand and formed a bazooka-like hand-held cannon made of ice into his hands. Gray loaded the cannon with the snowballs and aimed it at Natsu. Natsu immediately got on the defensive, lighting up his fist on fire. "You wouldn't dare."

Gray smirked. "Watch me, Fire Princess." He fired at Natsu and Happy, the snowballs shooting out at the speed of light. Natsu had already got ready to deflect the snow.

_"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" _Natsu roared, creating a huge blast of fire around the clearing. The snow on the ground completely melted. Looking up, he saw Gray, his body completely wet and covered in soot. The idea of Gray being covered in black was Natsu's dream. Well, maybe not, but the scenario of Gray trying to get the soot off while soaking wet had him falling on the ground as he clutched his stomach in laughter.

"Shut up, asshole!" Gray shouted angrily. _"Ice Make: Floor!"_

A thin layer of ice formed on the ground. Natsu stopped laughing as he slipped the minute he tried to get up. Regaining his balance a minute later, he challenged him. "Bring it, Droppy eyes!"

Happy sighed as he watched Natsu and Gray go at it. "The both of you will never learn your lesson, will you?"

He flew away as Natsu cried out,_ "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"_

Gray was blasted backwards but not before he yelled,_ "Ice-Make: Ice Impact!"_

_"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"_

_"Ice-Make: Arrows!"_

_"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!"_

_"Ice Make: Hammer!"_

The two of them sent spells and punches at each other for the next ten minutes. The other did not relent or back off. Natsu didn't know how long it would have kept going, if it weren't for the hilt of a sword hitting them both on the head. Rubbing his head, he saw Erza Scarlet standing between him and Gray.

"Oi, Erza!" shouted Gray. "You're in middle of a duel."

The redhead put on her most murderous look as her eyes and quite literally shot arrows of fear into their hearts. Gray shrunk away from her, as did Natsu. An angry Erza was that last thing Natsu wanted this Christmas.

"I don't care if you were in the middle of a duel," Erza sighed. "You should be helping out with the decorations at the guild."

"What?!" Natsu cried out. "We thought we're already done with them!"

Erza shook her head. "No. We still have the floats to finish. We _are_ leading the Christmas Parade after the ball, aren't we?"

"You have gotta be kidding me," Natsu heard Gray mutter under his breath, along with a few swear words.

"Now, come on, the both of you!" Erza said as she started dragging Natsu by his scarf and Gray by his ear. Neither of them protested as she marched over to the guild with them in tow.

* * *

"Erza, there you are!"

Natsu had nearly choked to death by his own scarf by the time the three reached the Fairy Tail guild. Gasping for breath as he got up, he saw that the guild was completely transformed. Red and blue streamers were hanging around the railings of the stairs. A huge Christmas tree was right in the center of the guild, the ornaments shining and sparkling the entire place.

"Wow, the place has completely transformed!" Natsu cried out.

"Yeah," said Gray. He tilted his head and hit his head on the side, snow coming out of his ear. Natsu snickered. When Erza was dragging them here, Gray had tried to escape with severe consequences.

Lisanna Strauss came up to the two with steaming cups on a tray. "Where were you guys? You were supposed to help out with the float!"

"The two idiots were having another snowball fight in town," replied Erza.

Natsu glared at Happy, who quickly hid behind Lisanna's older sister, Mirajane.

"Not my fault Gray goaded me into one," Natsu grumbled.

"I don't care who was goaded into it, you have to help out with the float!" said Erza. "You do want to be invited into the castle, don't you?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. If he was honest, he didn't want to. He and Happy were running low on money so they need a job, ASAP. "You're killing me here, Erza."

"Maybe I won't be killing you so much when I say that there's something inside the Heartfilia castle that might lead you to Igneel."

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks and tripped. Groaning, he stood up and rubbed his forehead. He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "What the hell do you mean? Don't you dare pull a joke on me with this."

"Why would I joke with you on this, Natsu?" asked Erza, just as seriously. "Master's the one who told me about this to begin with. That's why we _need_ your help with this float."

Natsu turned his full body towards her, his attention nowhere but between the two of them. Ever since the dragon left him when he was young, finding him had been his goal. When he joined the guild at the age of ten, that had still been his purpose. But as time went on, Natsu started to lose hope in finding Igneel as there was next to no clues about his whereabouts.

"But Happy and I are running low on-"

"We'll all take a job once we're done with this," Erza interrupted. "So, is this more important to you or not?"

Natsu considered the options. If they actually did get an invite inside the castle, he could possibly get a clue and finally get an idea as to where Igneel would be. If not...

"You better be right, Erza. I don't wanna waste my time at another dead end."

Erza sighed. "Good. Becasue Master already talked to the king's brother. It would be a shame if you refused."

_"What?!"_ Natsu cried out. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I can assure you, Natsu, that she's not joking."

Turning around, Natsu saw the old Fairy Tail master Makarov Dreyar behind him and jumped. "Gramps! You're back early."

Makarov roared with laughed. "You're thickheaded as always, Natsu. Now, get to work! You too, Gray!"

"What?! Why me?!" shouted Gray from afar, who was talking to his girlfriend, Juvia Locksar. "I'm a little busy here, Gramps!"

Natsu huffed. "I wouldn't mind _not_ working with him."

Everyone around them smacked their heads and groaned.

"Are we really going to go through this again?" said Juvia. The blue haired water mage put water droplets on the roof and Christmas tree, making the guild sparkle. "Juvia thinks that the both of you should try to get along for once."

"Okay," retorted Natsu. "So please tell your boyfriend to stop being a d-"

"Fine, Juvs," Gray said in resgination. "I'll try and get things done before dinner tonight...if Flame Boy doesn't burn down another building again."

_You bastard..._Natsu clenched his fists and got ready to punch him but Erza beat him to it by hitting him on the head again. "Gezz, Natsu...sometimes, I think a girl is only one to control your destrcutive personality."

A shock went through Natsu's entire body. The idea of love was very foreign to him, let alone frighten him. This Christmas, the last thing he wanted to deal with was a random girl trying to get him under a mistletoe. "Erza, you've been reading too much romance novels."

"No, I do not!" Erza yelled, also turning a deep red. "You're getting delusional, Natsu. The next thing you know, you're going to be falling for a princess."

"Can it, Erza. I'm not dealing with another mistletoe mishap again."

Erza rolled her eyes and pushed Natsu and Gray over to the float at the back of the guild. "Come on you two. Let's get moving."

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah, I know, crappy cliffhanger. Well, what do you do when you haven't updated this book since January?! Well, either way, the nickname Gray has for Juvia is all Nephilim-Fairchild21's idea. XD **_

_**Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Spring Break is finally starting so I hope I can get in another chapter before it ends. Saoynara for now!**_


	4. Ch 3: The Key To Celestia

**Chapter 3: The Key to Celestia**

_Lucy's POV _

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror as she straightened out her hairdo. She sighed as the servants made some adjustments at the bottom of her gown. She had tried to corner Takashi for the past two days to no avail as her parents constantly dragged her away for the ball preparations and she could never find him to begin with.

_I guess I really don't have a choice... _

Just then, she heard a small knock on her bedroom door.

"Hey Lucy," the person outside called out. "Levy told me that you wanted to see me. What's going on?"

Lucy jumped. "W-who is it?"

The person behind the door laughed. The funny part was that it was strangely familiar.

"Seriously, Luce? Even I know how you sound like."

Lucy scoffed. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like a dying dragon."

Lucy's eyes widened as she turned around in surprise and astonishment. "Takashi? Is that you?"

The guy outside groaned. "And you're still a bloody dimwit."

_It's Takashi, alright. _Lucy waved to one of the maids fixing her gown to open the door. The maid nodded and opened the door. Takashi McGarden, with blue hair like his twin sister, stood at the doorway with an annoyed expression, but his hazel eyes said otherwise.

"Long time, no see, Heartfilia," Takashi said as he put up his hand in greeting.

"I'll say, McGarden," said Lucy, crossing her arms. "Personality wise, you haven't changed one bit."

"Same goes for you. How's life?"

Lucy relaxed her muscles, letting her arms fall to her sides as she walked over to him. "Stressful. But good. What's with the get-up?" she added, pointing to his pointy hat and boas that seemed to wrap around his tuxedo.

Takashi felt the furs and took of the boas, pushing them towards her as though they were poisoned. "Oh, this? Let's just say that our fathers are a little drunk right now..."

Lucy smacked her head and rolled her eyes. "Of course. Just like old times."

They were silent for a few minutes. Takashi broke it by saying, "So...you're my fiancé now, huh?"

The smile was wiped of Lucy's face as she felt her cheeks grow slightly warm.

"What? I'm just-"

"You had to remind me?! I was just starting to forget that."

Takashi groaned. "Can you stop acting like a ten year old? Cooties don't exist anymore."

"It's nothing like that!" Lucy retorted. She glared at him with a furious glimmer in her eye and Takashi shrunk at her gaze. Of course it had nothing to do with what they believed in as ten year old. She turned around, with her back to him, shuffled over to her bed and fell on her back. "...Anyway, I heard that you were looking forward to it."

"That idiot, of course she would tell you," Takashi mumbled.

"In case you're wondering, it wasn't Levy who told me," replied Lucy, still lying on her bed. "It was actually Virgo."

"Virgo?" Takashi sat beside me with a bright pink tint growing in his cheeks and a disgruntled expression. "Your Celestial Spirits?!"

"Yup."

"HOW?!"

"I honestly don't know. But nevertheless, she does have ears, Takashi."

"Oh, great." Takashi rolled his eyes and pulled out a small rectangular box from his pocket. Lucy sat up and eyed the blue box with yellow ribbons as he anxiously held it in his hand.

"So, you wanted to speak to me?" Takashi broke the silence that seemed to have appeared before them a minute ago. He didn't even make eye contact with her this time, which was strange.

"I - um...yeah, I do," Lucy cleared her throat as she continued, "What do you know about this entire affair? What really caused the war between our kingdoms to begin with?"

"Wha - Luce, what in the world are you asking?!"

"Well, I'm sorry! After all, you were part of the army, fighting our own soldiers!"

Takashi's face turned grim. Shadows appeared across his face, now absolutely refusing to even glance in her direction.

"Takashi..." Lucy said in a more gentler tone. She put her hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"...You still have you Celestial Keys with you, right?"

Lucy took out the gold keys that she always had with her, wherever she was. Shaking them in a confused fashion, she said, "Of course I do. Why?"

"Th-that's what started this war," Takashi's voice cracked as he spoke. "When your mother gave you her Celestial Keys, one of them went missing. Your uncle noticed and even though our fathers knew that my uncle had nothing do with it, your uncle proceeded to blame him for stealing the key. Things escalated and...you and Levy were completely oblivious for good reason. Layla kept you two from the entire ordeal." He finally faced her, his eyes brimming with tears. "You have no idea of the expectations that my uncle held over me as I grew up. When he made me join the army last year...that's about when I had it. I decided to end this war on my own terms. So I set out far from Hioku and eventually...I found this."

He gestured to the box that he was hold as he gave it to a shocked Lucy. Opening it, she saw a bow design similar to that of an upside down urn with two handles on either side. The center of the bow was white, stamped with the crest of the Water Bearer, colored in blue and a heart on its base. The blade of the key was similar to that of a mermaid tail, with "fins" sprouting out of either side of the base of the bow, and four more at the tip, curling towards the center.

"The Aquarius Key..." Lucy said as she tenderly turned it over in her hands. "I...this is too much..."

"Hey, it was your mother's key. Might as well return it to its former owner. And besides, I heard that under a critical moment, you can call upon the Queen of the Celestial World: Celestia."

"Celestia? But I thought that there was only a King."

"Queen Celestia," explained Takashi slowly, "is a divine spirit and has more control of the stars than the king does. All of the spirits respect her and worship her because she's the life force of all of them, including the king."

Lucy wiped the tears that have started to form at the edge of her brown eyes. She couldn't believe that Takashi had spent nearly half of this year looking for this one key. But as touching as this was, there was the lingering question of _why_. When she asked him precisely just that, he answered rather vaguely, "Just...reasons. I already told you. I set out to find that key to end the war."

Lucy raised an eyebrow as Takashi got up. She wasn't entirely convinced by his answer.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not telling me everything?"

Takashi gave a small and mysterious smile before exiting the room, leaving Lucy just as confused as she was when he first entered her room.

* * *

**_A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked that chapter! :D So instead of using the Celestial King, I used a Queen instead, and she'll be the integral part of the story more than the king, because I feel like the King has been way overused. Anyway, feel free to comment and/or vote if you liked it! :D_**


	5. Ch 4: The Christmas Parade

**_A/N: One thing I'll point out: I'm not making Lisanna the enemy in this fanfic. She may not be an integral part of this story but she's every bit of a person as the rest of the characters in Fairy Tail and I'm going to treat her as such. If you think that me writing scenes of Natsu and Lisanna are "signs of love aka possible love triangle between him, her and Lucy", think again. Sorry if I sound a little rude but those two can be written in a scene together without the implication of any romance whatsoever and Lisanna can be written as a considerate person towards Natsu without being a bitch towards Lucy. That is all and I hope you enjoy the chapter :D_**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Christmas Parade**

_Natsu's POV_

It took a while to finish the float. The stupid thing was big enough already but with the huge ice castle Gray was supposed to build on it and him wanting every detail to be perfect and intricate drove Natsu mad. Of course, Juvia didn't say anything and Grandpa Makarov later forced him in front of the parade with Happy and Lisanna. _Why Gramps..._

"Be careful with that torch, Natsu-san," Wendy Marvell warned him before Natsu and Happy got onto the first float. The timid blue haired Sky Dragon Slayer was looking for a lead as to where her dragon, Grandeeny was as well. Her hands clamped together at the front nervously, she added, "Please don't mess this up."

"What is there to mess up?" Happy asked. "The king already said yes."

"That's not what we're worried about, you idiot," said Carla, a white Exceed who was Wendy's companion.

Lisanna Strauss was brushing up her short white hair into slight curls at the bottom and sighed. "Thanks, Wendy. I'll make sure these idiots don't do anything stupid."

Natsu's arm were at his sides with his hands curled up into fists all the while giving his friend an annoyed look."You know, its taking all of my willpower to not duel you right now."

"Because you know I'll kick your butt, right?"

"WHAT?!"

Happy sighed. "You'll never change, Natsu. Maybe Erza was right about having a girl in your life."

"Definitely," replied Lisanna.

"Oi!" Gray hollered from his float, "Are you two going to get on or what?!"

"Be paitent, you idiot, we're getting on in a minute!" Natsu and Lisanna yelled back and got to their positions onto the float.

"By the way Natsu..." Lisanna dug through the box that was at the float and pulled out a dragon costume, shaking it in his face. "You aren't going to get a least bit festive?"

Natsu jumped at the sight of the costume. It was hideous as hell. The orange was too bright and the dragon head was scary, even for him. The teeth were showing too much and it looked more like decoration than a costume.

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna wear that," Natsu said flatly.

"So that's a no?"

"Yup."

"Shame. It would get the crowd more excited."

"You can't guilt me into wearing that, Lisanna."

She rolled her eyes in response and out back the costume into the box. "Oh well. It was worth a try."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer yelled joyfully from the top of a building through a microphone, "Welcome to Magnolia's annual Christmas Parade, where all the nearby guilds put together a show for the wondrous holidays!"

The crowd on the sidelines roared as each guild's floats filed out, one by one.

"I wonder how extravagant Lamia Scale's float is going to be," Happy wondered out loud.

"I have a feeling that they are going to go all out this year as well," said Lisanna.

"Then again, so are we," said Natsu. "And it's our turn. Let's get going!"

Their float slowly moved out onto the road as Lisanna used her Take Over magic to turn into a eagle and took one of the torches with her feet, lighting up the guild's two floats at the top. Gray's float turned the fire blue and blended in with the castle. Meanwhile, Natsu lighted up the fireworks from his float and shot fire from his mouth into the sky with the the fireworks, recreating the symbol of Fairy Tail. Lamia Scale did close to the same a few minutes later with Cheria Blendy's God Slayer magic. Lyon Vastia created a huge phoenix out of ice, the bird sprinkling soft icicles onto the crowd and the floats as it flew for the next two minutes.

"Amazing..." Lisanna trailed off, who had landed beside him back in her human self. "It feels so soothing..."

Around that point, fireworks hit the sky with a big bang, startling nearly everyone that was near their float. Natsu and Lisanna started shaking along with the float and as Natsu looked down, it was in near danger of falling down on the crowd.

"What the hell is going on?!" Lisanna cried out in panic.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted over the noise, hoping that the blue cat got the message somewhat. "Get us out of here now!"

Luckily, Happy came over and flew away with Natsu to a roof while Lisanna turned into an eagle and flew next to him.

"What are we going to do?" Happy asked. "Everyone's going to be crushed by the float if we don't do something."

"Wait, who's that?" Lisanna pointed at a figure walking towards the crowd. Everybody on the sidelines stopped screaming for a split second as the person was rather peculiar. The person was wearing a hooded cloak with a bunch of keys at his side. Gold ones at that.

"Hey..."Happy started to say, "...You don't think that's a Celestial Spirit Mage...right?"

"Is it possible?" Natsu asked as the hooded person took one of his keys and summoned a spirit, which was a very muscular cow and for a split second, he could have sworn that he saw the cow form heart eyes. "...Nope, he's the real deal."

"How do you know the person is a _'he'?"_

"Does it matter?! We should try to help. It's our float after all. Fly me down there."

"Aye sir!" Happy picked Natsu and flew him down to the hooded person. But the voice coming out of the person wasn't what he expected.

"It's fine," the person said without looking in their direction. "I got everything under control."

"Natsu...she's a girl..." Happy stated in astonishment.

"You got a problem with that, cat?!"

The both of them jumped at the girl's furious tone. "No, madame!"

The float eventually stopped shaking after the cow pushed the float upright to its normal position.

"MOOOOOO!" the cow yelled. Flexing his muscles, he added, "IT'S ALL DONE, LUCY-CHAN!"

The girl sighed. "How many times have I told you to not do that kind of stuff in public, Taurus?"

With a wave of her key, the cow disappeared in thin air. Natsu held out his hand as a sign of appreciation. "Thanks for the help. I'm Natsu."

The crowd started to clear out, running away as they all screamed. Natsu suddenly heard a very loud creak coming from the float. The three of the turned around and to their dismay, found that the goddamn float was tipping over in their direction again.

"Uh-oh..." Happy trailed off.

"Everyone, clear out!" Lisanna's voice rang through the night.

Happy flew off but Natsu didn't see him. In fact, he had dived straight for the girl in the hooded cloak and pushed himself as well as her out of the way, barely missing the falling mast of the float.

"Ouch..." Natsu said as he rubbed his head and got up. Seeing that he was right on top of her, he immediately got up and gave her his hand. "Sorry about that. I don't know what made me do that. Need a hand up?"

"No need for it." The girl stood up on her own and shook Natsu's hand. "Thanks for...well, saving my neck."

"Don't men-" Natsu stopped half way from what he was going to say when the girl took down her hood to reveal her features. The blonde hair, brown eyes and a rather curvy figure struck a familiar chord with Natsu. The day he thought would turn his world upside down, was the day he would have found Igneel. However, he kind of realized that Erza was right. Well, more about life, not that he would admit it anyway. But at the same time, he was now very uncertain of what exactly she meant when she said, _"you're going to be falling for a princess."_

"You...what...how..." Natsu started to blabber off, now at a complete loss for words. His entire stance was frozen in the exact same position it he had it in about a minute ago.

The girl sighed and gave Natsu a small smile. "Hi, Natsu. Long time, no see."

_Of course._ Of all the girls he had to end up meeting today, it just had to be that one crazy ten year old from his childhood who chased him under a mistletoe.

"L-Lucy Heartf-filia?!" Natsu managed to stammer out, "...You're the freaking princess of Magnolia?!"

Lucy gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry about the mistletoe mishap. And I'm also sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."

"But...what are you doing here?! I thought your parents-"

"I snuck out." Lucy glared at him fiercely. "I...I was tired of being stuck in that castle like a fragile doll. I needed freedom."

* * *

**_A/N: YAYYYY THEY FINALLY MEET! :D Also, this is the last update before I head off on a plane to India. There's probably no WiFi for the next four weeks but if I ever do get it, I'll update one chapter which I'll probably have done on the 12-hour plane._**

**_Thank you so much guys! :D _**


	6. Author's Note (PLEASE READ)

_Something I forgot to mention in my previous update: I entered this story in the Wattys! (The website called Wattpad holds something called the "Wattys" every year. Whoever wins gets some really cool recognition and awards, obviously. _

_I feel like the story can win but I need your help. You can get on your Twitter and/or Tumblr and share this story's link (the Wattpad's link, which you can go on my profile to find the link to my Wattpad profile and find this story there) with the tag "#MyWattysChoice". I would be really happy if this story won and I thank you in advance if you guys do share this story. :DDDDDDDD_

_So until then, Sayonara!_


	7. Ch 5: Zeref's Little Captives

**_A/N: Few __things __I __need__ to make clear: there will be no love triangle. __Interpret__ Takashi's feelings however you want, but __he's__ an important character. So __don't__ assume that he's there as Lucy's 2nd love interest or something like that because he isn't. So for the ones that hate love triangles, this is sort of a warning/assuring message. XD _**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Zeref's Little Captives**

_Lucy's POV_

"I still can't believe that you of all people, got invited to the castle."

Natsu pouted at Lucy as he took a turkey leg. "Why? I shouldn't?"

"N-no...it's not that..." Lucy stammered. She really didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say to the one person she knew from her childhood?

It was a few hours after the parade fiasco, almost an hour from midnight. Natsu and Happy, having no time to catch up with her, helped her get to the safety of the palace grounds without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, the bad news was that the ball was starting and the palace servants, Levy and Takashi were searching for her all over.

"So, did you have any trouble getting into the palace unnoticed?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, I got here just barely on time," said Lucy. "So...how long have you guys been planing on that parade?"

Natsu laughed nervously. "We've been planing it for a while. Lamia Scale beat us as far as planing goes until this year. But you know, you don't have to act all polite and everything."

"Wait, what?"

"This." He gestured to the middle. "Small talk. I know we haven't talked in years but we can still speak normally."

"He liiiiikes you," Happy drawled.

As if on cue, and as if they were synchronized, Natsu and Lucy both brought down their fists on the blue cat's head. Natsu cleared his throat. "Ah, sorry about that. Remember when we used to do that to him?"

Lucy laughed. "Oh, it seems like it was only yesterday. Is he always that out spoken?"

"No, but he tends to say that even around Erza and Juvia. And god forbid that Gray is around when that happens." Natsu's expression went into a state of weariness and..._was that slight fear?_

This made Lucy laugh even more as she clutched her stomach. Memories from her childhood surfaced one by as she imagined the rest of the night going on like this, talking and laughing with Natsu. Reliving the times her mother took her down to town seemed like a good idea. _Huh. This may not be so bad._

Unfortunately, disruptions arrived in the form of Takashi and Levy.

"Lu-chan, there you are!" said Levy. Then she looked over at Natsu and her eyes widened. "...Natsu?!"

"Takashi and Levy McGarden?!" Natsu seemed just as freaked out as Takashi was, whose face was going through a turmoil of emotions. It went from freaked to surprise to happiness and...slight disappointed.

Takashi regained his composure and gave Natsu a steely look. "Natsu Dragneel. Long time no see."

Why Natsu and Levy were completely oblivious to the change of mood in the atmosphere, Lucy had no idea. She was thankful for the fact that Natsu was still as oblivious as he was when they were young. Because if he noticed Takashi's attitude...

"Takashi," said Natsu happily, throwing his arm around him and having no idea about Takashi's discomfort. Natsu's demeanor had suddenly shifted from scared shitless to happy to see his old playmate. "Holy shit man, how long has it been?!"

"About seven years."

"Gezz, you've changed. Remember all the pranks we used to pull on the girls?"

"Yeah. Half of them backfired on me and majority of the time, I had Gray chasing me around for making Juvia scared."

Takashi had a neutral look in her eyes that told Lucy something wasn't right. Ten years ago, as much as Lucy would have hated to admit back then, he and Natsu were the life of the party. With the amount of pranks they pulled whenever she, Levy and Takashi were in town, you could have called them out for being almost inseparable before the war.

"Speaking of which," I asked, "Natsu, why were you invited? Do you have to do some sort of mission for my dad?"

Natsu scratched his chin and looked the other way. "It's a long story."

Lucy took that as a sign that this was something that he didn't want to talk about. "Okay. Let's move onto lighter topics. How has the town changed over the years?"

"It hasn't changed much," said Happy, who was now, rubbing a small bump on the top of his head. "Just that maybe that you suddenly disappeared ten years back and then-"

"Happy." Natsu was still looking at the windows but the serious tone of his voice made Happy stop talking and suddenly grab Levy by the hand.

"Hey, what-" Levy started to say but Happy had already flown Levy over to the middle of the dance floor and started to twirl her around.

Takashi cleared his throat. "Okay then. Happy is being Happy, I can tell. In the meantime," he added as he held out his hand, "our dads are watching so a dance is in order at this point."

Lucy glanced over to where their fathers were dancing with their wives and raised an eyebrow at him. "Doesn't look like it. What are you hiding, Takashi?"

"I'm not hiding anything, I just felt dad's eyes boring into my back. I'm not kidding, Luce."

And right at the opportune time, was when Gray Fullbuster popped up. "Oi, Natsu! Why is Happy-"

The ice mage stopped, took one good look at Lucy, then at Takashi and arched an eyebrow. "Okay. Why is Happy dancing with your sister?"

Takashi smirked, and for the first time since Lucy saw him tonight, showed any type of emotion on his face. "What? No hello? No 'Welcome back'?"

"Whatever man." Gray patted him on the back. "You're still our friend. That war never happened. With that said, why is Levy dancing with Happy?"

"I don't know, mate. Levy looks pretty happy."

Lucy glanced back and she had to smile. Levy was holding Happy's paws and spinning while they both shouted in delight.

"Well, either way, do you want to meet the others?" Gray asked. "They'll be glad that you're alive."

"Well, I..." Takashi glanced back at Lucy and a not-so-subtle-glance at Natsu. Then, his eyes suddenly looking forward to get out of here, he shrugged. "Sure. It'll be nice to see the others. Plus, you're shirtless as usual."

Gray looked down, only to see himself in his pants with his jacket, tie and shirt completely gone, looking surprised and annoyed at the same time. "You gotta be kidding me," he started muttering as he dragged Takashi by his collar. "Damn stripping habit..."

Natsu and Lucy looked on as Gray and Takashi walked over to Juvia and Wendy.

Natsu sighed and crossed his arms. "It's great seeing Takashi again, but I feel like he's changed. Big time."

"Yeah, he's been acting weird ever since he and Levy got here," said Lucy, suddenly very aware that they were now alone. She glanced furtively at the clock. It was fifteen to midnight as an idea popped into her head. It was a far cry from what she had been planning to do for the entire night. But maybe, just maybe, she _can _make the best of it.

"Hey, Natsu," said Lucy, "You wanna dance?"

Natsu faced her with a very confused look but once he realized that she was serious, he gave her a horror-struck expression. "You're asking me."

Lucy nodded.

"Come on!" She grabbed his hand and walked to the middle of the dance floor. "It'll be fun!"

"But I have no idea how!"

Lucy froze and resisted the urge to laugh. Once she got that under control, she looked straight into his black eyes. "Then I'll teach you."

_"SAY WHAT NOW?!"_

"Yeah. Don't worry, just follow my lead."

The band and orchestra started up a new slow but quirky tune as she pulled him towards her. With his hand holding her waist, her holding his shoulder and their other hand clenched, she led the way.

For a guy who claimed that he can't dance, Natsu was pretty good. Sure, he stepped on Lucy's toes one or two times, but he was good as he can be. It was surprising how easy it felt as they danced around. It was as though she was a child again, dancing around the campfire that the town had during Christmas. _I wonder if they still had that..._

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize the fact that Natsu took the lead until he stepped onto her feet again.

"Hey, you're actually pretty good at this," praised Lucy. "Why did you say that you couldn't dance?"

"Because the one time that I tried to waltz," said Natsu, "two years ago, I tripped over Wendy and then Erza grabbed me and twirled me like I was one of those toys that you spin on the ground."

"Are you serious?" Lucy laughed out loud. "Why do I get the feeling that this is what you deal with everyday?"

"Because it-"

He stopped abruptly as the lights went out. The music stopped as everyone in the ball room went into a state of panic. Natsu lit his hand on fire, giving some light and giving enough for Layla to find her.

"Lucy!" Layla hugged Lucy tightly. "Oh, are you alright?"

"Yes, mum, I'm fine. What's going on?"

"I-I don't know. But I have a very bad feeling. Natsu, I know it'll be hard but please try to-"

_"Lucy Heartfilia."_

A chill ran down Lucy's spine. The voice had a dark and menacing tone that made the temperature of the room drop to freezing. Natsu had a look that had a mixture of fear and anger...almost as though he recognized that voice.

_"You have defied me." _Foootsteps echoed around the ball room. _"You have accepted a gift that was stolen from me. As for Natsu Dragneel...I'll deal with your betrayal later. Right now, the princess has to suffer from her parents's mistakes._"

Lucy's entire body went into complete lockdown. _Her parents's mistakes._ Somehow, her thoughts went over to her keys. But what did that have to do with anything? Unless what Takashi said was true...

"I didn't betray you, bastard!" Natsu yelled furiously. "You were practicing dark magic, what the hell was Igneel supposed to do about that?!"

Lucy stared at Natsu. She was surprised that she could move her head at all. "Natsu...?"

"Zeref!" An older man with a blond beard, a red cape and armor that had the Magnolia emblem (which was a rose in the middle of the sun) stepped out of the shadows. Lucy dryly thought it was funny that her uncle chose this moment of all times to appear. But nevertheless, King James' regal voice and furious tone rang through out the room. "You will regret making a mockery of the Heartfilia family! Show yourself!"

What appeared at the entrance of the room was a black and short haired young man in a black high collared robe with a white toga draped around his torso._ Oh my god. That is not...the evil wizard Zeref, is it?!_

"Honestly, Natsu," said Zeref, his tone eerily calm. "Haven't you heard of the word secrecy?"

"That was not my fault, Zeref," Natsu snarled. "You got yourself into trouble. Get the hell out of here."

A very creepy smile formed onto the dark Wizard's face. With a flick of his hand, Layla was lifted into the air and thrown back into the wall. Fear filled her heart as she screamed in sheer terror.

"Mum!" Lucy tried to run to her but now she was in the air as well. Then suddenly gravity took it's toll and she dropped to the ground...to find Natsu nowhere in sight. Takashi and Jude were now helping Layla up as Lucy spotted Natsu furiously barreling towards Zeref with his fist fully covered with fire.

"I won't let you harm anyone in this room!" Natsu screamed hoarsely. Lucy tried to get up, only to find that her arms were stuck to the side and her legs glued together. _Great. A binding spell. How perfect timing. At least __I'm__ able to sit up._

Meanwhile, Layla was trying to get Lucy's attention. Levy tried to stop her but she yelled, "Lucy! Your keys!"

Unfortunately, Zeref seemed to be on top of everything. "Oh no you don't."

He released a wave of dark magic throughout the entire room and that's when chaos broke lose. Lucy could only hope that she, as well as her mother and father and everyone else around her weren't killed.

But something hit her back as she was screaming hoarsely for her parents to be safe. Lucy managed to see what hit her. Or rather..._who._

"Natsu!" Lucy nearly sobbed in relief. "You're okay!"

"Damn you, Zeref..." Natsu struggled but it apparently looked like he was in the same situation as Lucy. In a softer but strained tone, he added, "Don't worry. Your family's gonna be safe. Wendy will protect everyone."

As he said those words, Lucy felt a little calmer as she heard the voice of a young girl casting spells. She felt the shouts and screams slowly fading away, as well as her consciousness ebbing from her. She realized that they were not dying, but rather being transported to a far away place.

* * *

**_A/N: OH MY __GOD __I'M__ SO SORRY FOR MAKING __YOU __WAIT FOR__ FOUR MONTHS I HAD LITERALLY NO MOTIVATION TO UPDATE OVER THE SUMMER AND I HAD BARELY ENOUGH TO UPDATE MYSTERIOUS FATES (Which btw, is my __crossover__ fanfic and yes it has Fairy Tail so go __check__ it out :D)_**

**_So __I __really__ hope you enjoyed that! If you did, do vote and/or comment! Sayonara!_**


	8. Ch 6: Plans From Freezing Hell

**_A/N: Eh...I may change the chapter title depending on whether I decide that whether Zeref's plans really are something out of a scary story (what are you saying Keerthana...=_=") Also, the title is being an ass right now. Why? Because character limit that's why! Oh Christ, Wattpad has better character limits, I swear. You can have longer chapter titles on there but when I upload a chapter on here, its just stops at "...(Natsu's-" ITS FREAKING ANNOYING AND-_**

**_*clears throat* Anyways, forgive my ranting and enjoy! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Plans From Freezing Hell**

_Natsu's POV_

It was dark when he woke up. His mind was jumbled with a million thoughts as he tried to sit up and regain stability.

_It had to be a nightmare, _Natsu thought to himself. _Zeref __wouldn't__ actually__-_

But as he saw Lucy lying unconscious on the cold floor, he realized that everything that happened was true. Zeref had crashed the Christmas ball and captured him and Lucy. He wished he knew whether the others survived.

_Damn that bloody jackass._ Zeref was more of an idiot than Natsu was, and calling himself that was not something he would have agreed with several years ago.

But that nevertheless left the lingering question: where the hell were they? He stood up and rubbed his eyes. He looked around and gathered his surroundings. They were in a cage (of course) and as he shuffled to the bars, Natsu realized that they were on top of a roof, presumably about thirty to forty feet from the ground. The bars were wide enough to squeeze in and make a jump for it but even Natsu could see that that was exactly what Zeref was counting on. No one with a grain of salt would take that risk. But Natsu wasn't one to follow other's plans. Glancing over at Lucy, he put that thought at the back of his mind for later use.

"Zeref, you couldn't get any tackier," Natsu muttered. "A sky prison? Seriously?"

"Oh, you're awake."

Startled, Natsu turned around to see Zeref standing mid-air near the cage.

"I see you already have your comments on your little prison," Zeref said with his hands behind his back.

Natsu had to resist the urge to roll his own eyes. "Seriously, couldn't you come up with something better? These are better conditions than a jail cell, and I mean that literally!"

Zeref chuckled. "You honestly aren't going to ask me why I brought you here?"

"Nah, you kidnapping me isn't the least bit surprising." Natsu crossed his arms and glanced over at Lucy, who was starting to stir into consciousness. "Lucy, however...what do you want with her?"

"Hmm. If I were to tell you, are you sure you won't go running to Igneel?"

Natsu would have been fine with Zeref making a snarky comment about wanting to know more. He might have even been fine with him not saying anything at all. However, the way he talked about Igneel ticked him off to no end.

"You know Igneel's been missing for years now, right?" Natsu growled. "You literally have no right to say that name."

"Right. Are you sure he didn't abandon you, Natsu? I had a reason for dabbling in dark magic and when you told him-"

"He did it for your own good! Death is not something-"

"Enough." Zeref glared at him murderously, his irises having turned blood red. Natsu returned the look with equal loathing and pity. Finally, after a minute or two later, Zeref sighed. His eyes returned back to normal. "Well whatever. I've got plans and you and the princess are going to be a part of it."

"Make me."

"Not that you have a choice...Natsu." Zeref threw him some new clothes. When Natsu looked confused for the first time since he saw him, Zeref added, "What? Did you think that I'd have you in fancy clothes for the rest of the time you're here? I don't want you two stinking up the place."

"What did you say?! Oi, get back here, bastard!"

Natsu kept swearing at a smirking Zeref, who disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. In his hands were two sets of clothes. One was a black jacket with one sleeve and white pants. The other was a lavender top that looked like it hung around someone's neck and a white skirt with a belt. At that point he felt a surge of panic. _My scarf. _His hands went to his neck, where he felt the comforting scale patterned cloth and took a deep sigh of relief. Igneel's gift was the last thing he had of him and that was the absolute last thing he wanted to lose.

Next to Lucy, was a trapdoor that conveniently looked unlocked. He opened it and got inside, which was roomy enough but unfortunately didn't look like something they can use as an escape. Go figure. Then again, Zeref wasn't a complete moron. Once he took off his coat, he realized that maybe he needed new clothes. The amount of damage Zeref's wave of magic made to his coat almost made Natsu laugh. It was close to being just as ripped as a clawed curtain. His pants were in no better condition. After quickly changing, he climbed back out and went over to Lucy.

"Oi, Lucy." He gently shook her shoulder. "Wake up. You may want to see this."

Lucy groaned and mumbled incoherently. One of the few sentences Natsu could have sworn he made out was, "No, I don't wanna wake up, its Saturday."

And then she promptly punched him in the face.

"OW!" Natsu screamed, to which Lucy sat upright with her eyes wide open and her fist pointed at him. "Jesus Christ, what the hell was that for?!"

Lucy gasped and put her hands to her mouth, turning red with embarrassment. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-" she stopped abruptly and looked around her. "Where the heck are we?"

"In a cage." Natsu stood up and stretched his arms. "Zeref captured us both. I wouldn't be surprised if it had happened to just me. But what in the world does he want with you?"

"I-I don't know," Lucy stammered. "It seemed like my mother knew but Takashi said something about a Celestial Spirit key starting the entire war."

She took out a ring, which had a bunch of keys, some gold, some silver, and just stared at them. "I wonder if Zeref was the one who stole it to begin with..."

A very bad feeling grew in the pit of Natsu's stomach. When he saw Takashi at the ball, something had changed. He used to be the most carefree guy in the world. Now, he looked torn and...well, less open.

_What if Lucy said about Zeref starting the war was true? If Takashi had to find the key..._

"Natsu?"

Brought back to earth, he found Lucy blinking at him. Not daring to tell her what came to mind, he tossed her the other set of clothes.

"Go change," Natsu responded to her confused and horror-struck expression. "There's a trapdoor next to you. I think Zeref made it appear just for you."

Lucy glanced over to her right and saw the open door. "But I don't need new clothes."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Cause your gown isn't in good shape."

Lucy looked down at her blue gown, which was basically just as bad as his coat. She sighed in resignation. "So...it's not a trap?"

"Where do you think I changed into what I'm wearing now?"

She gave him a look of mocking astonishment. "I thought you were the person to change wherever."

"WHAT?"

Lucy chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Man, are you easy to rile up." She climbed into the mini basement and before her head went fully in, she said, "Don't look."

Natsu made an X on his heart and walked over to the other side of the cage.

_Zeref...__the__ war...Celestial Keys...Zeref, what exactly are you going to do?_

Once Lucy had changed, she got out and closed the door. It dissolved into the floor of the cage. Natsu gave a look like _I told you so._

"So what now?" asked Lucy. They sat cross legged in front of each other.

"We find a way out."

"Yes, but how?"

"How do you feel about jumping?"

"We're about forty feet high."

"The bars are wide enough to squeeze through."

"I think even you know that's exactly what Zeref is counting on."

_Damn this girl is quick,_ thought Natsu. "I think you noticed that by now, I'm not good at going by people's plans."

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?!" Lucy retorted.

"We were kids when you learned this!"

"Oh for gods sake." Lucy sighed. "This isn't getting us anywhere."

They both sat there in silence for a long period of time. Eventually as the temperature turned to freezing, Natsu lit his fist on fire.

"Hey," said Lucy. "Do you have any idea how long we have been out?"

Natsu shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe three days, judging by the weather."

"But that means that we've been out since Christmas!"

"But that also means that we need to get out of here, pronto. We're never going to know until we do."

"Well, do you have any ideas, Romeo?"

When Natsu opened his mouth, Lucy added, "One that _doesn't _involve jumping off here."

Natsu pouted as they stared at his lit fist until a light bulb went off in his head. "Lucy. Your Celestial Spirit keys. Do they still work?"

Lucy stared blankly at him. "My-my Celestial Spirit keys? What does that_-oh." _Realization dawned on her face as she felt the keys in her hands. "Oh my god, Natsu you're a genius!"

"I'm a what now?"

She made an almost inhumane squeal as she took one of the keys and pointed it to her right._ "Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"_

The sound of a door bell rang out as a pink petite women in a maid's outfit appeared in front of them. "You need a way to get out, Princess?"

"Yeah," said Lucy, obviously pleased. "Can you find a way to dig through the metal and see if-"

Before Lucy could finish her sentence, Virgo disappeared into a hole beneath her, drilling deeper as Natsu and Lucy looked on. However, they heard a small thud, and the celestial spirit came up and landed softly beside her owner.

"No luck?" asked Lucy.

"It looks like the enemy thought of everything," Virgo responded. "The only way out is to jump, and down below are Zeref's guards waiting for you to appear, should you ever make the fall."

Natsu groaned. Just his luck. They had absolutely had no idea where they were, and even worse, how long they have been out. But one thing Virgo said stood out in his mind. "Virgo...did you say guards?"

The spirit nodded. Immediately his mind went into overdrive. Over the years, while he was searching for Igneel, he had done his research on Zeref as well. Long story short, he now knew exactly where they were.

"Lucy," Natsu said gravely. "We have to get out of here _now_. And yes, we're gonna have to jump."

"Natsu?" said Lucy, "What's going on? Where-"

"We're in the kingdom of Alvarez. It's a long story but you're just going to have to trust me for now."

Lucy opened her mouth like she wanted to protest but eventually she nodded. "Fine. But the minute we land, when we get out, we tell each other everything. Got it?"

"Fine," Natsu agreed, while at the same time, thinking about just how messed up things were at the moment.

* * *

**_A/N: Hey guys! I finished a chapter earlier than I thought. I hope you enjoyed it! :D It's probably better though because college is starting in a week and I probably won't be on as much as I used to. I will update when I get the free time though (probably) so I don't leave you hanging._**

**_Sayonara! :D_**


	9. Ch 7: Alvarez Intervenes

**Chapter 7: Alvarez Intervenes**

_Lucy's POV_

"Natsu? Are you absolutely sure that this is going to work?"

Natsu was tying a rope around her feet as the wind was blowing hard than the night would have predicted. The two of them spent the entire day planning out what they were going to do. Even after two days of planning, it still shocked Lucy to no end that they were going to jump off the prison that was almost fifty feet high.

"Gezz, Lucy," Natsu moaned as he made the last knot. "You're so paranoid. At least have faith that this will work."

"I'm more scared that I'm going to have all of my bones broken!"

"Relax. You're going to land safely, I guarantee you. If you don't, you can hit me anytime you want as punishment. Or you can give me a kiss," he added with a shrug.

"That...last one doesn't seem like a punishment."

He leaned in her face with a playful smile. "Try me."

Lucy arched one of her eyebrows. "Hmm. I never would have pegged you for a flirt."

Natsu smirked and went back to securing the rope around his hip. "I'm not. I'm just saying that because it's never gonna happen. Well, that, and I've seen Gray and Juvia do it."

"Those two are dating!"

"So? I legit see no difference. Friends can make relationship jokes between each other, right?"

It took a moment for Lucy to realize that she was slightly red in the face. She turned her head in the other direction and rolled her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that you've done this before?"

Natsu stopped for a minute and grew silent. He glanced up at Lucy for a minute before looking back down with the knot in his hands. Realizing that it was probably a sensitive topic, she said, "You know what? Let's just concentrate on getting out of here."

"Yeah." The playfulness in Natsu's voice was gone and was replaced with a somber tone. He looked almost as if he was reliving a memory. "Let's try to get out of here..."

Lucy sighed and glanced down to look for any signs of the guards. She knew they hardly knew each other but at times like this, she felt like she had known him forever. In a perfect world, that war didn't happen and they were all still close as ever.

_Maybe...just maybe we might be able to know more after we get out of here..._

The wind grew colder as it blew her hair across her face.

"It's getting colder. We should-" Lucy pushed it back and faced Natsu, whom she was surprised to find that he had been staring at her in a confused manner. "What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and stood up. "You ready?"

Lucy nodded, determined. They both stood at the edge of the building. Again, the forty foot drop seemed so far way. She had almost backed down.

"Lucy." Natsu held out his hand. "Put your arms around my neck."

Lucy nearly lost her balance. "S-Say what now?"

"You're scared of jumping right now, aren't you?"

"I-I...well, yes but-"

"Then put your arms around me. I'll make sure we land safely."

Natsu's soft tone somehow calmed Lucy and she put her arms around his neck as he held onto her hip. She had a strange feeling to put her head on his shoulder but she managed to pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

"You got your key?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah." Lucy showed him the Aries key. "Aries should be able to break our fall if anything happens and you burn our ropes off. Right?"

"Right." They both got to the edge. "You ready?"

Lucy sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Right. And in three-"

"Two-"

"One."

And they jumped.

The both of them screamed as they fell, holding onto each other tightly. In addition to the chilly night, Lucy found herself clinging onto Natsu (who was surprisingly warm) more as the ground started to get closer. When they were about twenty feet away, Natsu yelled, "Lucy, now!"

_"Open, Gate __of__ the Ram! Aries!"_

_"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!"_

Natsu's fist lit on fire and cut the ropes. Aries, a pink haired, brown eyed young woman with a pair of twisted horns on her head who was wearing fluffy wool-like clothing appeared at the ground, which was now about five feet away from them.

"Aries!" Lucy shouted.

"Sorry if doesn't help!" Aries cried out as she made a circle with her fingers. Her wool magic produced a bed of pink wool. They barely missed the ground. But something wasn't right. Instead of wool in her face, she felt something smoother. Something more like...clothing. She pulled her head up see that she was lying right on top of Natsu, who opened his eyes as well and saw the position they were in.

"What-" said Lucy.

"How-" Natsu started to say.

Lucy felt her face grow warm as Natsu's face went red. She immediately got off him and the both of them pushed their backs into the wool away from each other. Lucy's heart started beating hard against her chest. _What the hell...is this...?_

Before she could even make sense of what was happening, the wool around them disappeared and they both fell on their bottoms.

"Ow..." Lucy stood up and glanced up the tower that they jumped from. "You know it still baffles me that we actually survived that fall."

"Um..." Aries trailed off. Lucy and Natsu both turned around in surprise. "Can I go back now?"

Lucy smiled. Aries was pretty much the same as she was when Layla was her master. "Sure. Have fun on your little date!"

Aries blushed furiously before disappearing.

"Hey," said Natsu. "I got a question."

"Yeah?"

"The way you talk to your Celestial Spirits. It sounds different."

"Eh? You've met others?"

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, more or less. Either way, with your Spirits, you talk to them as though-"

"They're my friends?" Lucy finished. "Well, that's what they are to me. I inherited them shortly before the war started so I've had time to get to know them. My mum always told me that the Spirits are never tools. They have souls and feelings just as much as we do as human beings."

"Souls and emotions, huh..." Natsu looked up at their former prison. "I wish Zeref would understand that..."

"Understand what?"

Natsu jumped, apparently coming back to earth. "Oh. Um nothing."

Lucy scrutinized him in shock and suspicion. Ever since they gained consciousness, he's been rather secretive about Zeref, where they were and how he had known their location. _What exactly happened between those two?!_

Natsu, noticing this, said, "Hey, I promised I'd tell you everything once we escape. But first we need to find transportation out of here. And quietly."

Lucy nodded. "What's our best option right now?"

"Horses are going to make too much noise at this time of night. Then there's the wagon on your right and then the bears-"

"Wait, what?!"

"Yes, bears. Trained ones though. But the only problem is that the stables for the bears are on the other side of the castle."

Lucy thought about the options. Horses would be a quicker way out but bears, depending on how you trained them, can be silent if you tell them to.

"I'd say to take the horses," Lucy finally said. When Natsu started to protest, she retorted, "We don't exactly have a choice here, Natsu! Time to get to the other side of the bloody castle is not something that we have right now!"

"Time to escape," said a woman's voice in a rather lazy tone, "is also not something you have on your hands...Lucy Heartfilia."

Natsu and Lucy both jumped. Slowly turning to her right, Lucy realized that they may have walked straight into a trap. A beautiful and voluptuous woman was standing in front of them. Her green hair was in a bob with bangs cut above her eyes, along with two, blue cross-shaped objects attached to the sides of her head like horns. She was wearing something akin to that of a burgundy swimsuit, a fancy coat with blue fur around the collar, cross-shaped earrings and and has a gold choker around her neck with chains attached to it.

"You...what are you doing here?" Natsu growled. His fists were at his sides, clenched in fury.

The woman calmly glanced at Natsu, her expression unreadable. "So I see you didn't take my warning."

Natsu gave an emotionless laugh. "Not my fault Zeref captured me. I had no intention of coming back. What are you doing in the castle?"

"Oh? And here I am, thinking that you had done your research."

"Um..." Lucy's head turned back and forth between Natsu and the woman like a tennis ball. "You two know each other?"

The woman glared at her with contempt. "The name is Brandish μ," said Brandish. Her eyes narrowed into slits. "So your mother never told you about me? What a shame. It's more fun to destroy when someone knows you and fears you."

The air between the three of them changed direction. The temperature dropped further below freezing under Brandish's glare. Of course, everyone knew Layla. She was the wife of King James' brother. But the way Brandish spoke about her hinted that everything wasn't exactly hunky dory between them.

"Natsu said that he wasn't surprised that he was captured. However..." Lucy gave an icy glare. "What do you want with me? What did my kingdom-"

But Lucy was cut off by Brandish's loud, high pitched laugh. "You're kidding, right?! You honestly don't realize who started the war to begin with?" She let out another burst of laughter before returning to her collected demeanor. "The person who stole the Aquarius key? It was Emperor Zeref. The war that has been going on for the past ten years? Oh man. I would be surprised that Natsu didn't figure it out."

Lucy gasped. _Zeref WAS the one who started the war?!_ But that didn't make any sense whatsoever. Takashi said that he found it in a faraway place. Unless Takashi was keeping where he found the key a secret, none of what Brandish was saying was going to amount to any logical explanations. And moreover, what did her family have to do with any of this?!

Meanwhile, Natsu looked like his worst suspicions have been confirmed. "But why?!" Natsu yelled. "What the hell was Zeref was going to gain from stealing one of Lucy's keys?!"

"You know damn well what he is trying to do, Dragneel," said Brandish. "Or should I say, Prince Natsu Dragneel, future heir to the Alvarez throne."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. Not being able to move, she faced Natsu. "Oi...?!"

Shadows crossed Natsu's face, refusing to even meet her gaze. His whole body started to tremble. "I-what..._that bastard_...after everything he's done to-"

"Natsu!" Lucy kept her eyes on the fire mage. Using the most authoritative voice she could muster up in her shock, she asked him, "What exactly is the relationship between you and Zeref?!"

Natsu finally stopped trembling. He glanced up and gave Brandish a murderous look. "Zeref, the Emperor Spriggan...is my older brother."

"Hm." Brandish made a satisfied sneer. "Glad you finally admitted that the two of you are related. And now..." She snapped her fingers and walked up to Lucy until they were face to face. Immediately, Lucy felt an immense amount of magic power coming from Brandish. Lucy realized that if they were going start fighting, they were going to lose. Or worse, get killed.

"What the hell did you do?!" asked Lucy.

"What did I do?" she pointed to her own left. "Take a look at what I did to the wagon on your right."

As Lucy peered to her right, she found that the wagon that was previously a source of escape from where they were, was now reduced to a mere toy wagon for action figures.

"Mass manipulation," said Brandish. "I can alter the size and mass of anything, whether it may be human, animal, object, or town. They don't call me the 'Country Demolisher' for nothing."

_There's more than one name I'd love to call you, _thought Lucy. She managed a condescending sneer and a shrug. "What? This is your attempt of a threat?"

"I'm surprised that you got as much confidence as you do. Although," she added as she got ready to snap her fingers. "I do wish I could shrink you down like that wagon. It would make my job so much easier."

"But?" Lucy now realized that with Brandish keeping all of her focus on her, Natsu had gone into the nearby stables undetected. It was risky but it was all they had in escaping.

"But that would be no fun," stated Brandish. She lowered her hand and sighed. "It's better to chase your prey and watch it suffer."

"Oh, we got someone who likes to play with her food now." Lucy heard the slight sound of clopping on the ground. That's when she knew to drop the act. Turning towards the stables, she yelled, "Natsu, now!"

The stable doors burst open. Natsu was on a horse, rode up to Lucy and pulled her up. She wrapped her arms around his waist as the horse neighed and waved its two hooves in the air.

"Took you long enough," said Natsu. Glaring down at Brandish, he shouted, "Later, you stupid witch! Tell Zeref I'll be back to kick his ever loving ass later!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know?!" Lucy cried out as the horse rode around the courtyard before heading for the exit. "We didn't plan for this!"

"Well, we did now, so hold on tight!" The horse raced out of the castle and across town. They were about to reach the bridge that was the border of Alvarez as Natsu added in a serious tone, "Lucy, neither of us can fight Brandish. She's way too powerful. Even with our powers combined, we'll be defeated in a matter of seconds."

"I think the word 'powerful' is an understatement when it comes to describing Brandish," Lucy sighed in relief that for now, they were safe. She laid her head on Natsu's back, exhausted and tightened her grip around his waist. "Her magic power is on another whole level."

"We'll find a safe place first," said Natsu. "And then...we figure out what's going on."

"Yeah..." Lucy nodded. Her eyes eventually started to give way to sleep and for some reason, the insane amount of warmth that was radiating from Natsu, but not before she heard him say, "I won't let anything happen to you. That's a promise I'll keep. For you and your mother."

* * *

**_A/N: Yay! I got a chapter out! I really hope that you liked it! I'm probably adding in a few Nalu scenes a little too early but come on, its a Nalu fanfic, what did you expect? And plus, its like seven chapters into the book. They might as well start bonding. XD_**

**_For those of you who were waiting for an update on Halloween, I'm so sorry! D: But tbh, you guys know I'm bad with deadlines. Also, the official translation of the Fairy Tail manga has the empire called "Albareth" instead of "Alvarez". But then again this might be a typo issue because the same thing happened with "Tenrou Island" being called "Sirius Island" in the English translation._**

**_And college has been kicking me in the arse. Let me just say, I used to love math. XD Oh well. At least I get Veteran's Day off._**

**_Until I get out a new chapter, see you guys later! _**


	10. Ch 8: Ready For Battle

**_A/N: So I did a small poll on Google+ (I'm more active on there than Tumblr and/or Twitter; link to my G+ page is on my profile) asking who wanted to see a chapter in Takashi's POV._**

**_The response to yes has been immense and since he is an important character, I obliged. Also, I will say this again: there's not going to be any stupid ass love triangle._**

**_(A few also said no but don't worry, I'm switching back to Natsu's POV next chapter.)_**

**_Enjoy! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Ready For Battle**

_Takashi's POV_

"It's been nearly four days, what do you mean by you haven't found her yet?!" Takashi McGarden yelled in frustration at his soldiers. He paced around the battle strategy room, trying to calm himself. Ever since Lucy and Natsu got captured by Zeref, he hadn't slept once. _For the love of God, please let them be safe._

"We're sorry," one of them stammered out. "We're trying but-"

"But what?! I already told you where to look for Lucy!"

"Well...that's the problem. She-the princess is not there anymore."

Takashi froze. So he was right about Lucy and Natsu being kept at Alvarez. _Oh this was bad._ "What you mean by 'she's not there anymore?!' And why didn't you tell me about this earlier?!"

"According to the spies that you placed at Alvarez, they saw Princess Lucy and Natsu Dragneel jump from a high rise tower and encounter Brandish before escaping the kingdom on a horse. We currently have no idea of their whereabouts due to the state of things."

Takashi clenched his fists and looked the other way. He was seriously on the verge of breaking something. Trying to keep his composure, he said, "You're dismissed. If they have escaped as you say, then keep a careful eye on whether they're coming back to Magnolia. They could be in hiding as of now so don't drop any hints that you know about this information."

The three Hioku guards saluted and marched out of the room, leaving Takashi alone with his thoughts. _Well, that took a lot out of me._

First, he finds out that Zeref was the one who started the war. Then after he finds the key, he finds that Zeref was the good old Emperor Spriggan himself, who claims to be Natsu's older brother. The most horrifying part of that revelation? He could see the family resemblance, at least in the physical department.

He couldn't let Zeref anywhere near Natsu or especially Lucy for that matter. Nobody knew the bigger picture of the situation. Sure, him barely escaping Alvarez and getting the key to the Heartfilias was what got Lucy into this mess to begin with but there was literally no other way to end the war. He wasn't going to let the lives of the people who die fighting be used for bringing the Celestial Spirit Queen.

He couldn't take it anymore. He pushed a white vase and pushed it down onto the ground, breaking into pieces. Kicking the stand that the vase was sitting on and falling down on his knees, he finally yelled, "Fucking shit!"

"I'd never thought you'd be the one to break down in fury, Takashi," said a familiar voice.

Takashi turned around and saw Layla standing at the doorway.

"Princess Layla." Takashi stood up and looked at the broken vase. A guilty feeling arose within him. "Um...sorry about the vase."

Layla shook her head and dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "No, it's fine," she said gently. "I understand how you feel. Jude and James are no better to be honest. James is breaking stuff all over the place while your father and Uncle Wes are trying to comfort Jude." She walked up to Takashi and gestured him to a chair. "Sit down. I have some ice with me."

Takashi didn't feel like sitting down on a chair. He was too exhausted, too worried. But Layla pushed his shoulder and he eventually relented and took a step towards the nearest chair. A sharp pain suddenly shot up to his brain and nearly collapsed onto the chair.

"Here," said Layla as she handed him an ice pack. Pulling up another chair as she sat across from him, she asked, "You know, I have been wondering, where did you find that key?"

Takashi winced. He'd never told her parents where he found it. When Jude first asked, he just said that he found to being sold at a bargain shop in another town. Of course, with everyone sick and tired of the war, his father and Jude didn't ask and simply went up to their brothers with this information and later came to the compromise that he'd have to marry Lucy when they're old enough. But he realized that maybe Layla knew that was a lie from the start. "Layla, did you overhear what the guards were informing me of?"

"Yes. I'm assuming that you found out about Zeref and Natsu?"

"And who the Celestial Spirit resides in. As far as you're concerned...the Celestial Spirit Queen doesn't reside in the Celestial World itself. She's way too powerful to live there."

"Yes. Every few years, the Queen actually resides in a Celestial Spirit Wizard or Mage." Layla grew silent. "And you found out about all of this...with just one visit to Alvarez."

Takashi nodded. "And wouldn't you believe it," he added with a dry laugh, "Zeref was perfectly willing to tell me what he was going to do if she's unleashed. Right before he tried to kill me."

"It will be very dangerous if she's released into the world and should only be released at the dire of times. You aren't willing to let that happen, are you?"

"I have a feeling that you would do the same."

"Now that is true." Layla leaned back into her chair. "And any reason why you were acting cold towards Natsu?"

Takashi gave her a blank look, to which she continued, "I've been watching the entire exchanged between the four of you that night. You didn't know what to feel, didn't you?"

Takashi looked the other way. He was not going to have this conversation. But as per usual, Layla had different ideas.

"You were trying to protect them," hypothesized Layla. You knew that there was next to no chance that-"

"-how I feel and what I have to do are two different things, Layla," said Takashi. "Natsu is and always will be my friend but I also know that Lucy is not going to be happy with me later on in our lives. And for that, I'm willing to risk my life for the both of them."

"I can always negotiate the terms that we came up with while also keeping peace within both kingdoms."

"You-you can do that?"

Layla nodded. "Feelings can change over time, dear. Even now, that part of the peace treaty is...not even that concrete."

"Wait, you mean that its not even a part of the treaty? Then why did you guys-"

"Truth be told, we wanted to finish the war as soon as possible." Layla sighed. "Its been ten years, and anymore added to that total would have driven all of us insane. You finding that key was actually more than enough for your uncle to call off all of the forces. The unification of the kingdoms is actually considered more of an option than a part of the peace agreement as of this point."

Takashi stared at her in shock. _She had to be kidding me, right?! The first time I heard this news, Uncle Wes made it see like I didn't have a choice in the matter! _Then he started giggling. Throwing his head back, he broke into insane laughter. Stopping a minute later, he commented, "So Lucy has a choice."

"Yes. But so do you. The both of you have the freedom. If it doesn't work out-"

"Layla, I said this earlier. Lucy won't be happy with me later on in our lives. In fact, since our childhoods, she's had her eye on Natsu from the beginning. The idiot doesn't even realize that he's fallen for her, and Lucy vice versa. And besides, the last time I had seen him," Takashi added with another chuckle. "With the exception of Wendy, I don't think he'd never let anyone drag him to do a waltz. You may think I'm kidding but the others from the guild were just as shocked."

Layla raised an eyebrow. "...You have been exceptionally observant, haven't you? Then again, this is all coming from the guy who used to pull pranks around town with him."

Takashi's thoughts went back to simpler times. "Honestly, if the war hadn't started...wait, how do you know about Natsu and Zeref being related?!"

"I-" Layla stammered and then sighed. "You know, maybe I should tell you about how I knew. But first...you've fallen in love with Lucy, haven't you?"

Takashi gave a surprised look once more but the shock wasn't as big as he was expecting it to be. Instead, he said, "That remains to be seen, to be honest. But like I said-"

"-you don't have a chance." Layla smiled sadly. "Don't beat yourself over it, sweetie. Now, shall we get started? We have a lot of history to go through."

Takashi nodded. "So what do you know about Natsu?"

"On the year 770-" Layla started to say but was interrupted as James burst into the room and for once, Takashi wished that he could freeze time.

"Layla," said James in a urgent tone. "You need to read this." He gave her an envelope. "It's just as Jude feared. They're at-"

"You mean they _were_," Layla cut in gravely. "Takashi just told me everything, James. We as a kingdom need to keep this quiet."

"But-"

Takashi stood up and gaped at Layla and James. "Um, what's going on?"

"It's Zeref," Layla responded. She gave Takashi the note. "James, you know what to do."

"I'll have entire town ready," said James. Then he glared at Takashi. "I'm surprised that you found out about this while you found the key but I sincerely thank you for keeping this under wraps."

"Well, um.." Takashi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Don't mention it, Your majesty."

As James walked out in a urgent stride, Takashi opened up the note that Layla gave him. "Are you guys expecting an attack from Alvarez?"

"Oh, they'd crush us in battle," said Layla. "No, we're going to be dealing with something much worse than the battlefield."

Confused, Takashi read the open note. To his shock and horror, it read,

_Layla,  
__ I__t looks like your daughter and my brother have escaped the kingdom. You know what Alvarez can do in battle. Do not try to fight, as it will be a full on extermination. I'll give you a month to think about what your plan is going to be. Handing over Lucy will be good for you._

_Zeref_

"You aren't going to, are you?!" Takashi shouted. "Lucy and Natsu aren't going to be stupid enough to come back to Magnolia right now."

"That's why we're going to have our troops ready." Layla said softly. "All of the kingdom's guilds are going to help defend the area. They're the only chance we got."

"But how the hell are we going to stop Zeref?!"

Layla stared out the window. "Unfortunately for us, Takashi...this is a duel between brothers. We're just simply getting swept along with it...and that just may be my fault to begin with."

Takashi froze. "Wait, what? Layla, what do you mean? How is it your fault to begin with?"

But all Layla did was sigh and gesture him back to the chair. "You might as well sit down, Takashi. We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

**_A/N: HAI! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D _**

**_I really hope that you guys got what you wanted out of Takashi's POV. I was thinking about combining his and Levy (you all know what I'm gonna do with Levy MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA) but maybe I'll save Levy's POV until later into the story._**

**_And so, concerning the plot of this fanfic, what do you think happened between Natsu and Zeref and Layla in the past? I'd love to hear the theories :DDDDDD_**

**_Until then, Sayonara! :D_**


	11. Ch 9: Memories

_**A/N: First **__**of all, I'm **__**so sorry that update is so late. Second, I **__**wish you a very super late happy new year AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**_

_**I'm **__**truly sorry though. I had no motivation after finals to write anything to be honest. Also I **__**was playing a variety of games during **__**break that included The Last of Us and Undertale, which are really **__**good games btw. And then I **__**got really busy over **__**the last month so...yeah.**_

_**With that said, this **__**chapter **__**was originally going **__**to be a bit of a filler but then I **__**was like "screw that, I **__**actually want to finish this story."**_

_**Thank you for all of the reviews! I really appreciate it! :D**_

_**ENJOY! :D**_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Memories**

_Natsu's POV_

The starry night sky looked over Natsu and Lucy as they feasted on a chicken by the warm campfire. It had been five days since they last escaped Alvarez, and they had just found a forest nearby Crocus to hide in.

"I still can't believe that you manage to convince the shopkeeper to give us food and other essentials," said Lucy in a astonished tone.

"What?" said Natsu, who had his mouth full of chicken. Swallowing hard, he added, "Luce, that was no big deal. That old man was an acquaintance of mine."

"But we were trying to lose the Alvarez guards at the market! We only had seconds to get out of there to begin with!"

"The way you caught the guard with your whip though? That's so becoming a classic."

Lucy went red. "I was desperate! And you needed the distraction anyway since you went ahead and picked a fight with the head guard!"

"What can I say?" Natsu put his arms at the back of his neck. "I'm a natural."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, either way, I'm glad we finally get to camp with blankets this time around." Lucy took another drumstick and took a bite. "Five days without one can really do a number on you."

"What are you saying? It was completely warm and I had the fire burning all night!"

As if on cue, the blonde sneezed and scowled at him. "Not all of us are Dragon Slayers, Natsu. And no, you did not have the fire burning all night. In fact, you pulled me into your arms while you were asleep, muttering mindlessly! What in the world were you dreaming about?"

"Hmmph." Natsu grunted and leaned back into his own blanket, blushing slightly. "M-minor details." He then started staring at the stars, which were glowing brilliantly in the sky. He then started thinking about the constellations as he laid back onto the blanket.

"Hey, Natsu," said Lucy. "Didn't you promise me that you would tell me what the hell is going on with our kingdoms?"

Natsu cringed. _Crap. _"Yeah. I guess I did."

"Well?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

After another awkward silence, he answered, "Are ya sure about this? Cause once you're in-"

"Natsu, I've been dragged into this ever since Zeref kidnapped us. Might as well tell me the truth."

He sighed, not wanting to talk about this at all. It was bad enough that Layla got dragged into it. But Lucy was right. There was really no point in hiding it. "Alright. Fine. It actually started when we were younger. Shortly before Igneel disappeared and I ended up at Fairy Tail...Look...I'll get to the point. Zeref wants to open the Eclipse gate."

"What?!" Lucy screamed. "But that's forbidden ma-"

"I know." Natsu took a shaky breath. "Igneel tried telling him that so many times. But...Zeref wasn't one to listen. Once his girlfriend died-"

"Wait, he had a girlfriend?"

"...Will you please let me finish?"

Lucy covered her mouth. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Natsu continued on, "Zeref had always been fascinated with life and death and how magic played a part in that. It wasn't that much of an obsession as it now but it was still there. But then he meet Mavis...and I don't know what happened. He was perfectly normal, but when she died, he went crazy about wanting to bring her back to life. He was murmuring her name in his sleep, asking for forgiveness. Sooner or later, I told Igneel what was going on. Zeref did not take too kindly that I was interrupting his research and he eventually revealed that he was going to find the Celestial Spirit Queen and have her open the gate."

Natsu looked up to the sky again. Memories of that day were as clear as sky above him. Zeref basically stormed out after Igneel said that she couldn't be revived. He apparently knew what was going on but Zeref had hated him ever since.

After a long period of silence, Lucy spoke up. "Maybe that's why he stole the key."

Natsu was drawing a blank. "Huh?"

"When I was young, my mum told me that if the Celestial Queen chose your body for residence, there was a trick to summoning her. She is the life force of all of the spirits so she can't live in the Celestial Spirit world to begin with. When you summon the queen, the key that you use breaks and gets reborn in the world somewhere else. If he were to use the key to open the gate..."

"He could reverse her death. He could prevent it."

"But Natsu...it has major consequences. If the Celestial Spirit Queen is summoned...the person it's summoned from can die. Since it's where the Queen would live, the body cannot take that much magic energy."

The chicken leg that was in Natsu's hand grew cold despite the fire. _Just what exactly happened between Zeref and Mavis...?_

"That's why he wanted me." Lucy scratched her chin as her eyes became calculating. "He needed someone to open the gate and summon the Queen. But..."

"The Queen is not in you, is she?"

Lucy let out a shrill laugh. "Highly doubt that she is. But if it were true..." She went quiet before saying, "Good night, Natsu."

She started to prepare her blanket before Natsu realized that he wanted her to stay up with him. He felt something stirring in him as he said, "Wait!"

The blonde stopped what she was doing and stared at him. "What is it?"

"I...well..." He stammered. "You wouldn't mm-mind staying up, would you? I just don't want to fall asleep right now."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him before obliging to sit back up. "Are you afraid to sleep alone?"

Natsu snorted, pretending to cover the obvious truth. "Please. I told my share. What about you?"

"Hmm...I guess it's only fair isn't it?" said Lucy. "Well...ever since the war started, Dad never let go anywhere. I couldn't go into town anymore because Uncle James was way too paranoid about what would happen to the future Queen." With a bitter tone in her voice, she added, "Hmmph. That's all he ever cared about since he couldn't have any kids of his own."

Another awkward silence fell between them. The mood had grown somber ever since he spoke about Igneel and Zeref.

"Natsu..." Lucy trailed off. "We can't let him summon the Celestial Spirit Queen. The consequences will be dire, especially for the mage that he's summoning it from."

"Hmm. What else is new? He'd need a Celestial Spirit mage in order for that to happen."

Lucy gave him a small smile and wrapped her blanket around her. "See you in the morning."

As Lucy went to sleep, he started to yawn, as his eyes started to close on their own.

That's when the dreams started.

He was back in his little cottage. Zeref was in his white tunic as he held a book in his hands. For a moment, Natsu wondered if the past few years had been a dream as opposed to the actual one right now. Zeref never stormed out that day, he never formed an empire and the both of them weren't on other side of their views.

But Natsu wasn't stupid. Everything right now was a dream. Zeref wasn't this calm or serene. His older brother turned towards him with his eyes closed, and said in an echo: _"Bring her to me. This is not a dream, but a vision. A message. I will summon the Celestial Spirit Queen and open the Gate. You cannot stop me."_

As Zeref opened his eyes, Natsu gasped. His eyes had turned red. His irises only got like that when he was truly angry. Everything around him started to turn to black. He was starting to be consumed by the darkness that was his brother's emotions.

And that's when he shot up, eyes wide with panic, breathing heavily.

Clutching his jacket, he looked around. Everything was the same. Lucy was still sound asleep, the fire was still suprisingly going strong.

What the hell did that dream mean? _Or was it even a dream?_

Lying back down, Natsu had a feeling that no matter the outcome, they were all going to be doomed...and he has no idea whether that was going to be his fault or not.


End file.
